Showing papers on "Blade element theory published in 1985"

Flight Mechanics of a Dragonfly

Abstract: SUMMARY The steady slow climbing flight of a dragonfly, Sympetrum frequens, was filmed and analysed. By using the observed data, the mechanical characteristics of the beating wings were carefully analysed by a simple method based on the momentum theory and the blade element theory, and with a numerical method modified from the local circulation method (LCM), which has been developed for analysing the aerodynamic characteristics of rotary wings. The results of calculations based on the observed data show that the dragonfly performs low speed flight with ordinary airfoil characteristics, instead of adopting an abnormally large lift coefficient. The observed phase advance of the hindwing, Adi — 80° can be fully explained by the present theoretical calculation. Similarly, the spanwise variation of the airloading and the time variations of the horizontal force, vertical force, pitching moment and torque or power can be definitely estimated within a reasonable range of accuracy in comparison with the flight data. The distribution of loading between the fore and hind pairs of wings is also clarified by the calculations.

Calculation of Steady Flow About Propellers Using a Surface Panel Method

Abstract: A general method for making detailed calculations of flow about propellers with centerbodies has been constructed by adapting a surface panel method. Apparently this is the first method capable of obtaining reliable surface pressure distributions in the blade leading-edge region. New features of the program include input of an axisymmetric nonuniform onset flow, provision for blade symmetry, and generation of the helical wake, including a special far-wake approximation. Calculated blade pressure distributions for a ship propeller and propeller efficiencies for an aircraft propeller agree well with experimental data. Several sample calculations have been included.

A Quasi-Three-Dimensional Turbomachinery Blade Design System: Part I—Throughflow Analysis

Abstract: The purpose of this work has been to develop a quasi-three-dimensional blade design and analysis system incorporating fully linked throughflow, blade-to-blade and blade section stacking programs. In Part I of the paper, the throughflow analysis is developed. This is based on a rigorous passage averaging technique to derive throughflow equations valid inside a blade row. The advantages of this approach are that the meridional streamsurface does not have to be of a prescribed shape, and by introducing density weighted averages the continuity equation is of an exact form. Included in the equations are the effects of blade blockage, blade forces, blade-to-blade variations and loss. The solution of the equations is developed for the well-known streamline curvature method, and the contributions from these extra effects on the radial equilibrium equation are discussed. Part II of the paper incorporates the analysis into a quasi-three-dimensional computing system and demonstrates its operational feasibility.

The Importance of Circumferential Non-Uniformities in a Passage-Averaged Quasi-Three-Dimensional Turbomachinery Design System

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to show, for both rotating and non-rotating blade rows, the importance of including circumferential non-uniform flow effects in a quasi-three-dimensional blade design system. The paper follows on from previous publications on the system in which the mathematical analysis and computerised system are detailed. Results are presented for a different stack of the nozzle guide vane presented previously and for a turbine rotor. In the former case it is again found that the blade force represents a major contribution to the radial pressure gradient, while for the rotor the radial pressure gradient it is dominated by centrifugal effects. In both examples the effects of circumferential non-uniformities are detailed and discussed.Copyright © 1985 by ASME

Method for the prediction of the installation aerodynamics of a propfan at subsonic speeds

Abstract: A subsonic flow panel code has been modified to handle the effects of a propeller wake. The effects of the propeller were modelled by a system of ring vortices of constant strength. Principles based on the blade element theory, the vortex theory and the momentum theory were used to evaluate the axial velocity increase, the swirl velocity and the pressure increase across the propeller. Theoretical calculations are compared to experimental results at Mach numbers up to 0.70 over a range of angles of attack. The discrepancies between the theory and the experimental results are analyzed. Suggestions for improvements to enhance the accuracy of the theoretical prediction are indicated.

An analysis of blade vortex interaction aerodynamics and acoustics

Abstract: The impulsive noise associated with helicopter flight due to Blade-Vortex Interaction, sometimes called blade slap is analyzed especially for the case of a close encounter of the blade-tip vortex with a following blade. Three parts of the phenomena are considered: the tip-vortex structure generated by the rotating blade, the unsteady pressure produced on the following blade during the interaction, and the acoustic radiation due to the unsteady pressure field. To simplify the problem, the analysis was confined to the situation where the vortex is aligned parallel to the blade span in which case the maximum acoustic pressure results. Acoustic radiation due to the interaction is analyzed in space-fixed coordinates and in the time domain with the unsteady pressure on the blade surface as the source of chordwise compact, but spanwise non-compact radiation. Maximum acoustic pressure is related to the vortex core size and Reynolds number which are in turn functions of the blade-tip aerodynamic parameters. Finally noise reduction and performance are considered.